[Regulation of harvesting for scientific use in France]

The 94-654 law (dated 29th July 1994) has modified the french regulation on post-mortem sampling on a deceased person, performed for scientific reasons. The patient's permission has been made mandatory for every autopsy (with the exception of forensic medecine). The permission can be presumed when the autopsy is performed to find the cause of death. In all other cases, the patient's wish must have been expressly signified before death, or testified by his family. In any case, the patient's relative must be informed of the sampling. This law seems to be one reason for the very perceptible decrease of the number of autopsies performed in hospitals these last years.